Our Son
by RantWaitingToHappen
Summary: AU! Gibbs is Tonys' dad and Tony is a sixteen year old with autism. Possible oneshot, or I might continue it into chapters of Tonys life as a child with autism and Gibbs/team being supportive and awesome! Either way R&R please. Thanks!
1. Chapter 1

**A.N! DX I'm having MAJOR writers block for all four of my current stories! So, I'm writing a bunch of oneshots to clear my head. That includes this one and Life With Out A Purpose. Random ideas keep poppinh into my head and I need to get 'em out or I can't continue with my current fic so here it is! :I This was supposed to be a oneshot but IDK, I might expand? R&R? Thanks, and enjoy :) **

Abby absolutely adored Gibbs son.

On winter days like these, when school had to be canceled, but work still progressed as usual, she enjoyed keeping him entertained down in her lab while the team kept busy upstairs.

Tony wasn't exactly a normal sixteen year-old, having been diagnosed with a mild case of autism at the age of four, called Aspergers' Syndrome. It basically impaired his social skills and even the way he interacted with others. He rarely looked you straight in the eye in a conversation. To strangers, who weren't aware of his condition, he often came off as rude and stoic. Abby didn't think of him as odd or anything, and she spoke to him the same she would anyone else. So when he walked into her lab, Gibbs right behind him with a bag of his things over his shoulder, Abby squeeled in delight.

"Tony!" she jumped, restraining herself from outright hugging him-he was way too cute sometimes, with those large green eyes and that ruffled brown hair of his. Tony hated being touched, though, one of the more obvious symptoms of autism, and she respected that.

"Abby." Tony recognized her voice, even though he didn't look up. He turned around, stared towards Gibbs' general direction, brows furrowed. "This isn't my school, it's 8am, it's a Monday, it says so on my schedule, it says so, I know, because I read it. I need to go to school." with this logical explanation, Tony brushed past his father, on his way out of the lab, shouting in a monotone, "I'll be in the car! You have to take me to school!"

With a smirk, Gibbs turned to fetch his son, gently and lightly gripping him by the arm. "School was canceled this morning because of the snow storm Tony, remember we went over this on the way here? You have to stay down here with Abby, okay? I packed your lunch and everything else you'll need here in this bag. I'll be right upstairs in the bullpen if you need me." he explained.

Tony looked to his side for a minute before nodding. "I don't like snow." he announced moodily. He had a very structured schedule, and when life had other plans that changed said schedule he got angsty and never fully understood why it was things had to change.

"I know kiddo." Gibbs kissed his forehead with almost a featherlight touch, and handed Abby the bag, "Here's everything he'll need, there are some books in there I think he might-"

"I know Bossman, we'll be fine, it anything, you're on speed dial." she pushed him out of her sanctuary.

"Thanks Abbs." he kissed her forehead too.

She smiled. "No prob." she waved bye as he left. "Hey Tony, you eat breakfast already?" she asked, turning around, to face the young teen.

He nodded, not looking in her direction, distracted by all the machines in her lab, "Eat breakfast, everyday, 7am, Dad drinks too much coffee." He recited.

Abby giggled. "All those things are true. Sucks about school being canceled 'cause of the big snow storm." Most kids would be happy, but Tony wasn't most kids. He honestly enjoyed school, excelled at it even, he was a genius when it came to numbers and patterns and even tuttored afterschool on Wedsdays for a couple of hours. English, not so much, but for someone like Tony to try and grasp concepts in Shakespeare like metaphors and sarcasm and jokes was difficult; he took it all too literally at times and never understood motive behind a characters actions and so on, but did enjoy reading, just nothing to do with fiction.

Tony opened his bag, put his lunch in the mini fridge in her office, ignored her comment, and continued to take things out his bag, seemingly unaware of her presence anymore.

Abby didn't mind it though, she knew he wasn't feeling particularly at ease with his abrupt change in schedule, and if he wasn't up to par to speak, she'd give him his space. She went to slurp on her Caf-Pow! and check on some forensic test results waiting for her. She remembered when they'd first found out Tony had Aspergers' Syndrome, and she remembered researching everything she could possibly find about it online, while Ducky went on his medical know-how and purchased lengthy books on the subject.

Having A.S meant Tony had a very high-functioning type of Autism, Abby learned, and that a majority of people with A.S had very high IQs and went on to become quite successful, so as far as she was concerned, his condition really didn't have to hinder his quality of life at all. She had told Gibbs as much, Duck agreeing with her, and together, the three had managed to raise Tony to the best of their capabilities.

Abby remembered fonly that she had made a scrap book with the faces of the important people in his life, their names and some quick info about each person beneath the photograph for him when he'd turned five. At the time, the book was quite small, and only included Gibbs, Duck, herself, and his first grade teacher. In time, the book grew. Gibbs dad Jackson, Fornell, Kate, Tim, Ziva, and Palmer, were all in the book now.

Abby frowned as she thought back to his years in elementary. Kindergarden had been a breeze, and it was only if you looked very closely at Tony amongst his peers is that you would notice anything different about the way he acted compared to all of the other kids. First to third grade was a little tougher, but managable. The teachers were always concerned that Anthony wasn't being social enough, that he ignored the other kids a lot, and often ate lunch by himself. The complaints continued despite the fact that Duck had explained to each of them what A.S was and why he acted the way he was. None of the teachers seemed to really understand or even want to take the time to do so. But other than his lack of interaction with the other children, the teachers had all commented that he was doing remarkably in his studies, and was actually ahead of the others.

In fourth grade, things started going downhill. It was a year for kids his age when things like fitting in and making lots of friends and belonging to a certain group had started to become important, and Tony didn't care about any of these things nor did he comprehend his classmates' behaviours either. In fifth grade, the kids in his class started picking on him. He never looked anyone in the eye, if ever in a conversation, he would look very disinterested, he would converse with himself in a lonesome corner during recess, and refused to acknowlegde any of the other kids. So they picked him as the odd one out and started calling him a "retard" and other vicious names.

Neither Gibbs, Abby or Duck were aware of this, until Gibbs got a phone call in the bullpen from the school from the nurses office, telling him to pick up his son, who'd "fallen" during recess. Abby and Ducky had gone with him to the school. Clumsiness was a symptom of Aspergers', but Abby claimed on the way there, that Tony had told her before that he never played during recess, prefering to sit quietly instead, and recite all the prime numbers by memory instead. She had told the two men that day "Something feels hinky about this." in a worried tone. Gibbs had agreed with her fully, telling them his gut was telling him the same.

Upon getting there, Tony did the strangest thing. The eleven year old had jumped off the examining table in the nurses office and clung to Gibbs for dear life, eyes closed tightly. Tony had taken a fall plenty of times before, and never had he reacted like this. Tony hated being touched or vice versa, in fact, he often flinched away from any physical contact, so this was more than odd. If ever Tony had an injury before, if it was minor, he'd ignore it, if it was something more severe, and he realized he was bleeding, like a scraped knee or a nasty bruise, he'd run to the phone and call Ducky, because it was only logical you call a doctor if injured, was his response to Gibbs when he'd asked why he didn't just tell him about it.

Jethro was so astounded for a moment, that his own reaction was delayed. He couldn't remember being able to hug his son since he'd turned four, and started screaming anytime anyone, including himself, tried to pick him up or hug Tony. Finally, Abby remembered Gibbs had lifted his son into his arms and gripped him tight to his body. Abby and Ducky had both worridly noticed Tonys' lack of any struggle, and demanded to know what really happened to their child.

The nurse had gulped, glancing around, and said "Look, I don't want to get fired, but when he was brought in here by one of the teachers, she told me that the principal told her to say he'd been running and tripped on the playground, but according to his bruises, this looks to me like he was physically assaulted by one of the other children."

If he hadn't been holding onto his son, Gibbs would have blown a gasket, right then and there. So Abby had done it for him. She'd marched straight to the principals office and demanded answers. Gibbs was confident in Abbys abilities to get to the bottom of things, and stayed in the infirmary with his son, and Ducky, who examined the bruises carefully.

A week later, all the papers had been signed and all the arrangements had been made to transfer Tony into a private school, where his condition was better known and his classes adjusted better to him, and not the other way around. Best of all, they had a zero tolerance rule for violence and bullying. The yearly tuition for the school would've been more than Gibbs could have afforded, had Tony not been smart enough to pass the entrance qualification exam, and even exceed in it.

Apparently, at his old school, it had been the son of the principal, who had been leading the small group of children and terrorizing Tony that whole time, and he'd simply chosen to turn a blind eye to it, even when his son had gone so far as to hit Tony. Abby had nearly killed the man, and that day, every child within a mile radius of her had learned a few choice words.

To this day, Abby was still disgusted at the thought of that man. Had he no shame?

"Abby said next time she goes to get some ink I could go with her, and I could get a tattoo. Right Abby? You said I could, right?" Tony peeked his head out from the office, and snapped her out of her thoughts.

Abby looked at him. He was talking on his cellphone, the one Gibbs had gotten him on his fourteenth birthday. "Only if your dad's cool with it." she replied, "Remember, that's the one condition. Who're you talking to anyway? Is it Alie?" she enquired.

Tony nodded. "Alie said to say 'hi', so that's what I'm doing now, I'm saying hi for her to you, Abby." he told her, then went back to his prior conversation.

Abby smiled. Alie and Tony had met when he'd transfered schools, and out of all his classmates, she'd been the first to make an attempt at getting close to him and getting to know him, and slowly but surely, Tony had let her in. They'd become quite inseperable, and Abby had seen first hand one night how their relationship from best friends had progressed to something more.

Alie had been staying over one summer, her parents had gone on vacation, but she'd chosen to stay to take some extra classes in the summer to prepare her for high school algebra the next year, and Gibbs hadn't seen a problem with taking her in, Tony talked about her all the time, and she'd been to their place for dinner and BBQs and things like that plenty of times before and vice versa.

Abby had come by to talk to Gibbs about this cold case forensic evidence she'd found that night, and the two thirteen year-olds had been on the couch, lights off, watching a romantic comedy, Alie pausing it everytime someone made a sarcastic a joking remark to explain it to Tony, something she had told Abby she secretly enjoyed doing, and actually did at home to her parents and older brother whenever they were watching a film-a bad habit that hadn't been appreciated 'till now. And then the couple on the screen had begun to kiss, first softly and sweetly, then a little more passionately, crushing their lips together and embracing.

The two hadn't noticed her entrance into Gibbs home, and she'd been just about to leave the living room and go upstairs, when she noticed Tony turn on the couch and actually look Alie in the eye for a moment. "We're kind of like that, right? I'm handsome and funny, like that guy in the movie, Abby says so all the time, and you, Alie I don't know if you know this, but you're really pretty, even more pretty than that girl." he pointed to the T.V.

"And-and, you're definately more interesting than that girl; I don't like this movie, she wasn't that smart or that interesting and he wasn't that bright either, but they still like eachother so much. I don't get it. I couldn't like someone like her. I like someone like you Alie, you're very intelligent and you're interesting, and you make me laugh, you say funny things sometimes and you make me laugh.

"Yeah," he nodded to himself. "I like you."

Alie leaned over the couch and very delicately placed a kiss on his lips, her blonde curls falling over her shoulder. Tont didn't move away or flinch, he didn't kiss back, but he let her kiss him. When she finally pulled away, she was bright red, and smiled shyly up at him. "I like you too, Tony." she'd said.

Abby had stayed in utter shock for a minute 'till she made her stealthy escape into the basement, where Gibbs was sanding his boat. "Oh My Gosh Gibbs, oh my double friggin' Gosh!" She was a jittery ball of excitement. "Tony and Alie just kissed and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my whole entire life, and I should've had my camera, darn it! And our boy's got major game Gibbs!" she bounced up and down ecstatically.

After this, Gibbs hadn't left those two alone for the rest of the summer; he so was not ready for grandkids!

Abby still squeeled at the memory. They'd been together ever since. She occasionally caught them pecking lightly, and sometimes he'd even let Alie hold his hand, despite his no contact rule. Abby thought that was absolutely precious.

Abby looked up from the results she'd been reading religiously for the past hour or so, when she realized she couldn't hear Tony anymore. Maybe he was reading? She thought, as she turned her head to look into her offices' glass walls, and she nearly freaked when she saw that it was unoccupied. "Oh my God. Tony? Tony!"

"Abby! Be quite, it's rude Abby, Ducky says it's rude to scream when people are trying to sleep!" he called out from the floor underneath Abbys desk, Burt firmly tucked beneath his head as a makeshift pillow.

She nearly died of relief. "Sorry Tony, go back to bed." she went to her tiny closet in the office and brought out a warm blanket.

"You mean sleep, Abby," he corrected groggily, "This isn't a bed."

Abby smiled down at the boy as she tucked him in.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N. Alright, I decided to make this story just one shots of Tonys life with autism from when he was a child to when he's like a teen! So, I'll just randomly post new oneshots (don't worry, his age will be specified in each oneshot), and whatnot. :) Hope you guys like it! And any ideas or suggestions for new one shots are welcome btw! Reviews would be awesome! **

Tony wakes up one night, it's past midnight, and he's awake, and that's not right, that's not in his schedule. He goes to sleep every night at 10:30pm on the dot, he wakes up every morning at 6:45am and gets ready for school. So he wonders why he's awake now, he should be asleep. Something in his gut is churning. Something isn't right with the world. So the fourteen year-old gets up, very irritated with himself for waking up at all, because now his whole sleep schedule is messed up.

He walks the narrow hall between his room and his dads room. He's about to barge into the older mans room, when he pauses, remember how Ducky always chastises him when it comes to manners: "Knock first young man."

Tony nods to himself, knocks first, waits impatiently, and upon recieving zero response, he fidgets at the doorway for another minute before announcing "I know Ducky says not to, but you're not being a very good listener right now, so I'm barging in!"

No one occupied the bed or the room, and Tony starts. He gets on his hands and knees and looks underneath the bed for his dad, then he brushes himself off, and goes looking in the closet, with the same results. His dad is nowhere to be found. Tony fidgets some more, a panic starting to well in his chest. He should go back to bed and in the morning at exactly 6:57am, he'll walk into the kitchen and see his dad there, hot cup of coffee in his hands, leaning against the counter, breakfast in the making.

Except his gut doesn't let him, because something isn't right. This room is his dads, that bed is his dads, it's past midnight, his dad should be on that bed, because it belongs to him, so he should be in it, asleep, because it's only reasonable, Tony tells himself. The teen walks down the stairs, turns on the living room lights, looks down, trying to adjust his eyes to the brightness, and makes his way to the kitchen; no Gibbs in sight.

He hates going to the basement at night, when he was eight, he'd wandered down there and fallen down the stairs and broken his arm. It had been one of the most frightening experiences of his life, and Tony thought even more so for his dad, who'd practically sobbed on the way to the hospital. Nonetheless, he opened the door to the basement, and there he was! Tony made sure to watch his every step as he went down the stairs, grabbing onto the handrail with both hands.

"Dad, you're not supposed to sleep on the boat!" he called out, as he reached the final stair. "It's bad for your back, Alies' brother is studying to be a-a chiropracter, but he's not licensed yet, so you should get down from the boat." Tony looked up just briefly, to see if his dad had listened to him yet. When it was clear that Gibbs had no intention of waking up anytime soon, Tony scowled. He hated physically contact to an extreme, but if it got his dad to get up, there was no other choice, and screaming was out of the question, Abby had taught him long ago to use his "inside voice" and he didn't want to end up dissapointing her now.

Tony quickly poked Gibbs cheek, hoping that would be enough to stir him. After a few minutes, he let out a frustrated sigh and took hold of one of Gibbs shoulders, shaking it, enough to rouse the man awake, finally. He blinked his eyes, groaned as he sat up. "Tony? What're you doing awake, kiddo?" Gibbs asked, yawning and stretching.

Tony stared up at the ceiling. "Bed, you need to go to bed. The boats bad for your back, I told you this, but you never listen. You're a bad listener, Kate complains about you hanging up the phone on her all the time. I agree." he nodded his head to his own words, as if they were in a sequenced beat or rhythym.

Gibbs got off the boat, smiled at his son, "You're right, that thing's hell on my back."

Tony nodded impatiently, staring at the floor, he wanted to go back to bed. He held out his hand and grasped his dads, pulling him lightly up the stairs. Gibbs let himself be led, surprised by the peculiar action, but not questioning it, either.

He pointed to Gibbs bed once they'd gotten upstairs. "There, you see? That's where you're supposed to be. Bed, not the boat, the bed." he said succintly, dragging him to the bed, telling him to lay down and sleep. He then did something more peculiar even. Tony climbed onto the bed himself, and lay down next to his dad.

Gibbs blinked, "Tony-"

"You made me get up, I'm tired, I'm going to sleep. Stop talking, Ducky says I need to follow my schedule or I get upset. I don't want to be upset. I'm staying here. This is my side for tonight, don't come to my side, stay on your side, or I won't be happy."

Gibbs nearly laughed, but reminded himself Ducky also wanted Tony to be well-mannered, too. "Tony." he warned, "I don't like that tone, it's not 'stop talking', you know the nice way to say it."

Tony shuffled around in the bed, huffed. "I'm sorry. I meant to say, please be quiete and please don't intrude on my side of the bed. I'm small still, you could squish me."

This time, Gibbs did laugh.

"Don't laugh, that's not polite, I was being sincere. I'm telling on you to Ziva, she can kill people with paper clips, she said so, so I know she can."

Gibbs pecked his sons' forehead, then went back to "his side" of the bed. "Goodnight Tony, I love you."

Tony nodded. "Yeah, I know." he sunk into the pillow, the familiar scent of his father lulling him into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N! When a child with autism has a melt down it is through no fault of their own and can be caused by something minor or something more traumatic. It is difficult for them to get their emotions under control afterwards and even tougher to identify the reason they were upset in the first place. Never punish your Aspergers' child if they have a melt down, it is perfectly normal, as overwhelming emotions in reaction to daily situations are a common trait in Asperger's Syndrome. They do not like surprises or being surprised, so if the child is having a melt down do not go up to him/her and suddenly hug them, they are sure to react badly and the melt down will be much worse, if anything, ask the child persmission and respect their wishes if they simply want to be left alone to cope with their emotions at the moment. **

**Sorry for the long A.N, but I believe this information relevant in order to continue! **

**Btw, take these all as individual one-shots and try not to mind the ages of the older members from team Gibbs :O thanks, and enjoy. **

The five year-old had been unusually quiet all day. Tony didn't like interacting with people much, but he was a blabber mouth, and had been since the age of two. Gibbs had been worried about bringing him into work today, but not having a last minute babysitter, and completely forgetting it was a half a day in Tonys' school that day, he'd been a half hour late to pick him up, and had had no choice but to bring him into work.

Gibbs wondered if him being late to pick his son up from school had been what had the five year-old so flustered. It had only been a few months since he'd found out about his sons' condition and he was still getting used to everything and more than anything reading up on the Syndrome. He was glad at times like these that he had Abby and Ducky in his corner to help.

His new team was rather probie-ish, and consisted of two females and a male. He hadn't appointed senior field agent to anyone as of yet, as they were still all learning, and on similar levels still. Caitlyn Todd was the oldest of the three, at twenty-six, and was an expert profiler and had been a body gaurd for the president of the U.S. Next came Ziva David, at twenty-five, a mossad agent, a trained killing machine at this point. And finally, Timothy McGee, also twenty-five, computer genius graduate from MIT. In short, Gibbs knew all three of his current agents were pretty untrianed when it came down to investigating, but knew that under the right leadership the three would make fine agents one day.

Gibbs had briefly explained to his co-workers of his sons' condition, when Abby had mentioned it in the lab once, thinking he'd come by himself, so he knew now the three were all waiting anxiously to meet his son in the bullpen.

Tony was moody today. He didn't know why school had ended early, or why his dad was the last to show up to pick him up, or why the teacher had yelled at him today when he got up and went to the bathroom without asking for permission. He simply didn't see why he had to ask that woman for permission to do something he did normally without having to ask beforehand.

So, he was in a bad mood, and he didn't want to talk and he hadn't acknowleged his fathers' apologies in the car for having forgot to pick him up and he didn't care that he was meeting his dads subordinates for the first time today, he just wanted to go down to autopsy and watch Ducky poke around in corpses. It held his interest in a mobid fashion.

Before he knew it, they were at the bullpen. He refused to look up at anyone, or anything. He'd never been to the bullpen before, only to Ducky and Abbys labs. There were far too many people here, it made him angsty and he pulled at his sleeve.

"Tony, this is my team." Gibbs introduced, feeling a little nervous himself for some reason.

Ziva stared at the boy. "You are very small for your age." she said, speaking directly to Tony, and not to Gibbs, as some adults would do. "My name is Ziva, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Tony looked up briefly, nodded. "It is a pleasure to meet you Zee-vah." he over-enunciated.

To Gibbs' utter shock, it was Ziva who his child ended up getting along with best out of his team. Although it really should not have come as a surprise. Ziva and Tony were alike in some aspects, like in that a lot of the time neither knew how to deal with people in social situations and never really comprehended idioms and metaphors.

Kate and McGee had not done as well. Kate felt awkward around Tony, didn't really understand anything about Aspergers' Syndrome, and at times it felt more like Tony was mocking her or being quite rude, when it was actually a part of his condition, and she couldn't tell when to brush it off and when to tell him to mind his manners. Tim had done a lot of research over the topic of Aspergers' as soon as his Boss had told him about his childs' condition, but being in the same room with an autistic child was nothing like reading about it online.

Since they'd been working on nothing but cold cases all day so far, Ziva volunteered to bring the young boy down to autopsy. "You have an odd name. Ducky says 'Don't say rude things', but I don't that's rude, I am only pointing out that your name isn't common." Tony told her, once they were on the elevator.

Ziva chuckled. "You are right. My name is not very common in this country, as yours is not in mine."

The five year old nodded, distracted by the numbers on the elevator. "Gibbs is a funny name too." he said. "Tony Gibbs. Isn't that funny? I think that's funny. A lot of people don't get my funny, but I think it's funny. Abby says it is eccentric. But I just think it's funny, because Gibbs sounds like a fish."

"Do not tell your father, but I believe his name in general to be quite funny." Ziva agreed.

Tony looked down and smiled a little. He liked the way she spoke. "This is my floor." he announced. "This is Duckys lab, he's waiting for me so I have to get off here." without waiting for a response he got off the elevator. She watched carefully as he made his way into Duckys lab, smiled, got back on the elevator, and went back upstairs. She was not usually fond of children, but this one, she thought maybe she could get along with.

"Anthony, dear lad, how are we today?" Ducky greeted the boy. Tony ignored Ducky, sat on the floor, took out a worn notebook from his backpack and a pencil, and starts writing numbers in it, math problems and factors. Ducky raised a brow. "Is something the matter?" he asked.

Tony continued to ignore the doctor, and Ducky left it at that for now, knowing that if he kept pushing for more, he'd only aggravate the small boy, but kept in mind that something might be wrong.

An hour later, Palmer and Ducky were examining the body of a young corporal, when Tony tossed his book to the side and started crying, startling both men. Jimmy crouched down next to Tony and asked, "Hey kiddo, what's wrong?"

Tony sobbed, "I want something orange to drink." he demanded, bawling his little eyes out, chest heaving.

Palmer immediately got up and went upstairs to the breakroom to get the five year-old a beverage. Ducky though, had learned enough about the ailment in these last several months that he knew something more was amiss. When Jimmy came back a few minutes later, an orange juice in his hands, and gave it to Tony, the five year-old yelled "No! I want something orange! Why can't I have something orange?" he cried, fat tears sliding down his cheeks.

Jimmy blanched. "Oh God, I'm sorry? Did you mean, like orange soda pop? Because I can go get tha-"

Ducky cut the young man off. "I see your intentions are good Mr. Palmer, but an orange drink is not what Anthony really wants right now." the older man clarified. "Can you go get Jethro for me, please?" he asked his associate, who scrammbled up from the floor and ran off to get Gibbs.

Gibbs had made is downstairs in record time, and Ducky was sure his old friend had used the stairs in the rush he'd been in. "What's wrong, what happened?"

"I believe something is wrong with Anthony, something besides what he claims to be crying about." Ducky explained.

Gibbs couldn't stand to see his son crying so helplessly like that, and went to swoop him off the floor and hold him close, when Ducky warned him against it, "Ask for permission Jethro, you will startle the poor lad."

Gibbs grimaced at the memories that came flooding back of the year prior to this one, could remember the four year-old toddler screaming for dear life in his arms, wanting to be put down, running away from him, thinking he had to be the worst father in the world, until his son had been diagnosed, he had blamed himself for Tonys' distant behaviour. He knew better now. "Hey baby-boy, it's Daddy," he crouched down next to the distraught five year-old. "Can I give you a hug?" he asked very cautiously, his voice soft.

Tony continued to sob, but after a minute, he nodded almost subtly. Gibbs gently cradled his son in his arms. "Baby, what's wrong? Did something bad happen today? Are you mad at me for being so late? I'm really sorry about that." he apologized genuinely, holding his boy closer.

Tony sniffled, "Th-the teacher yelled at me today. She yelled because I forgot to ask to go, I had to go to the bathroom, and she got mad at me. I don't like when people yell." he gasped, trying to stifle his sobs, "A-and then, everyone laughed at me. But I didn't think it was very funny so I don't know why they laughed. It wasn't funny. Ziva knows what's funny. They don't." He complained, rubbing his watery eyes, "You forgot me t-today, even though I reminded you this morning, I told you 'Pick me up at 12:30.' You still forgot, and you only remember i-important things, so that means I'm not important." he sobbed, tears and snot running down his cherubic little face. "And tha's not very nice, to forget people." he concluded.

Gibbs heart broke at his sons' explanation. For any five year-old, that morning alone would have been troubling, but for a child with Aspergers', the stress amounted and trippled. He felt like the crummiest Dad in the world right then. "Baby, I'm so so sorry. You are the most important thing in my life and I can't believe I forgot to pick you up earlier, I was in a rush this morning, but that's not a good excuse, I shouldn't have forgotten today was a half-day. I'm so sorry, honey, I am, and I promise never to forget again." he hugged his son, relieved when Tony didn't struggle to get away at the tighter grip.

"You have to keep promises, so you can't back out of it, because a promise is a promise, so you can't forget again or you'll be breaking your promise. You have to be sure when you make a promise, because those can't be taken lightly." Tony muttered into his Dads shirt.

Gibbs softly kissed the top of his sons head, "I promise." he whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

Tim watched the small six year-old play in the sandbox with his toy turtles. For two months now, Tony had been obsessed with turtles, and every opportunity he got, he'd tug on McGee's shirt sleeve and start rambling on random facts about said sea animal. He'd never known things like that the first known turtles existed 200 million years ago, or that certain land turtles could outrun a human, either.

So lost in thought he'd been, that he only now realized a commotion had started in the playground. _Shit_, he thought instantly; Tony hated loud conflict, it scared him half to death. Tim got up from the bench, bag in tow, and ran to the play area.

"Where are your parents young man?" A tall, rubenesque middle-aged woman with dark blonde hair in a messy bun was asking Tony, "Answer me, boy, where the heck are those irresponsible parents of yours?"

"Excuse me ma'am, I would appreciate you not talking like that to my child." Tim stepped in, feeling very over protective of his Bosses little boy, even though it seemed Tony hadn't reacted much at all to the woman, his eyes glued to the new turtles Abby had gotten him last week, to add to his collection.

"Oh, you're the boys' father, then?" Before Tim could get a word in edge wise, the woman continued, clearly upset and causing quite the scene, as parents and their children alike began to gather like black crows pecking at a body in the desert heat. "You might want to go 'head and teach that kid of yours a few things called manners!" she outright yelled, this time startling Tony in the process, as he dropped one of his turtles into the sand, becoming very still suddenly. "Your son threw sand into one of my boys' eyes! Sand! Do you know how dangerous that is? I should damn well teach that boy a lesson-"

"First off, you won't be teaching anyone any lesson, second, control yourself; this is a playground full of impressionable young children, lady. And third, if he did anything that deserves a good talking to, you aren't the person he needs to hear it from, I'm sure he had his reasons, Tony doesn't do things unprovoked. He's a very quiet child who keeps to himself." Tim replied, standing his ground, and hiding the six year-old from the rabid woman's view.

"You have the audacity to say it was my kids who provoked yours into kicking sand at 'em? The nerve! My children aren't the ones sitting there, ignoring everyone else like they're too damn good for 'em." she screamed, growing red in the face.

Her two children, both clearly a couple of years older than Tony, stood at either side of her, one of them rubbing dirt from his eyes, glaring at his young charge. "He's a retard Mom!" he shouted. "He's just sittin' there, not paying us any attention."

The woman sneered, "That's right. If anything, keep your freak of a nature child away from the public!" And then it happened, the moment she crossed the line. It had been so unexpected Tim hadn't had a chance to intercept it. The woman nabbed at Tonys' arm, shaking him a little, so that he'd pay attention, her press on nails practically digging into his little forearm.

"_AAAAAHHHHHHHH_!" Tony shrieked, pulling away frantically.

**_SM__ACK_!**

"Bitch, if you _ever _lay your dirty hands on our son again I will beat you within an inch of your life, and that is not a threat, that is not a promise, it is a fact." Kate seethed, after slapping the woman in the face with as much force as she could muster. Kate had been off getting ice creams for the three of them, when she'd heard all the ruckus. The cones now lay splattered against the sidewalk a few yards away. She was seeing red at this point.

The woman held a shaky hand up to her now reddening cheek. "How dare you!"

At this point, Tony, the womans' two children, and several others had started to sob very loudly.

As Kate and the woman argued, Tim knelt down next to Tony, who's tiny chest was heaving. "Tony, it's Timmy, can I pick you up? We can go back to the car and go see Daddy." he suggested, with zero success. Tony was inconsolable, and shook his head, big hot tears rolling down his cheeks, entire body trembling as he attempted to pick up all of his little turtles from the sand, tucking as many as he could inside his pockets clumsily. The whole thing nearly broke Tims' heart in two. "Hey, Tony, did you know that many turtles are expert climbers? And that umm, that sea turtles can swim up to 35 miles per hour, didja' know that, Tony?"

This slowly got his interests, and Tony stilled long enough to spare a glance at Tim and nod rapidly, still sniffling, "Some turtles can live up to a year without food." he said, voice cracking. "A-and land t-turtles ears are sensitive to ground vibrations." he whimpered.

"I didn't know that, Tony, that's amazing." Tim praised. "What else is there about turtles?"

"The tomium is," he paused to let out another sob, still shaking. "It's the sharp beak of a turtle." he finished, "Pick me up, I want Daddy." he demanded after a minute of silence, huddling into himself, crying.

Tim sighed in relief and carefully cradled the boy in his arms.

In the car, Kates' grip on the steering wheel was so tight her knuckles had turned an alarming shade of white, but she was taking deep breaths and trying to keep her cool. If Tony, who was still sobbing in Tims' arms in the backseat, saw her lose it again, he'd get even more nervous, and it was really the last thing the poor kid needed.

"Can I see your arm, Tony?" Tim asked quietly.

Tonys' breathe hitched. "No!" he cried, holding his arm close to his body. "Hurts!" he sobbed. He could still feel that strangers' nails clutching at him, the touch had been unexpected and forceful, and Tony couldn't tell why anyone would do that!

It was hard to comfort a child like Tony at times like these. He clearly didn't want to be touched, he didn't want to talk, and no one really knew what it was he wanted. All Tim could do was give him space and that only made him feel useless.

Abby and Ducky were in their individual labs, Abby finishing up cataloging evidence from their recent closed case, Ducky sewing up the bodies with Mr. Palmer. Gibbs had stayed to brief the Director, with Ziva in tow, to explain to the Director of NCIS why she'd found it 'necessary' to roundhouse kick that man in the face, breaking his nose. Kate and Tim had gone to pick Tony up from school and keep him entertained while they waited for Gibbs to finish up business at the building.

Abby, Ducky, and Palmer stepped off the elevator together, only to meet up with Gibbs and Ziva, both who were headed downstairs from the directors office. The bullpen was nearly empty now, and they were all pretty much set to leave for the weekend. "I can't wait to see how it's going at the park with those three." Abby peeped happily.

"I cannot wait to see that little bundle of enjoyment, period." Ziva said.

Abby giggled. "You mean bundle of joy?"

"Is it not the same thing?"

Gibbs was enjoying the easy banter between the girls until the elevator doors slid open and in McGees' arms, his boy was wailing something awful, little face redder than a tomato. Kate looked pissed as hell, and Tim looked helpless.

"What happened?" Jimmy was the first to question.

"DADDY! DADDY!" The child cried out, once he realized where they were. McGee immediately brought the boy to his father, who took him with ease, and held him close. His eyes were red and puffy, and he had snot everywhere. The picture of a kid who'd been crying for a good long time now. Gibbs definitely wanted answers. But those could wait 'till his son calmed down and felt safe again.

"It's okay baby, you're okay, tell Daddy what's wrong." he rocked him back and forth, kissed his forehead, felt as helpless as Tim had looked five minutes ago in that elevator.

One hour later, working together, the seven had worked together and calmed Tony down enough so that he had stopped sobbing. Afterward, he quickly fell asleep in his dads arms, completely worn out.

Kate and McGee explained everything, from the turtles, to the sand, to the boys, to the loud-mouthed woman, to Kates' first assault, to the car ride there.

Even Ducky, who rarely showed his anger, was absolutely enraged by the whole thing. "Ugh, that gank!" Abby whispered loudly, so as not to wake the baby boy sleeping. "I would have curb-stomped her and gutted her and pushed her off a plane and-"

"Agreed." the usually gentle doctor spoke up, shaking his head in dismay, when he saw the scratch marks on their childs' tiny arm, from where the woman had dug her claws. "You poor thing." he tsked, as he put ointment cream and wrapped a small white bandage over the area with more precision and care than he showed any patient.

It was fair to say they were all outraged.

But at the end of the day, Gibbs was a happy man. His son was safe, Tim had stood up for Tony, Kate had socked a woman for Tony, Abby would go to the ends of the world to make Tony happy, Ducky would always have his sons' well being in mind, Ziva would gladly assassinate anyone who stepped out of line when it came to the small boy, and Palmer was Tonys' go to guy for-well, anything-Jimmy spoiled the boy rotten.

Gibbs smiled down at the sleeping form in his arms, looked up to see all six concerned faces, all of them gathered at one desk, surrounding his-their son. It was good to have family.

**A.N. This was (loosely) based on actual events that took place a little while ago. I dramatized what happened by like ten fold, but yeah, here's the story: **

**I babysit, and I took two of the kids out to the park one day, a brother and a sister (the little one, 5, has Down Syndrome, and the older one, 8, she is very over protective of him-she's like a mini mommy, I swear. :]) **

**So I'm like three feet away, watching them play, when this small girl, about the boys' age walks over to them, and starts trying to take the boys stuffed dog, and naturally, he tugs at his toy, and moves away from the girl, and just before I was going to step in, the girl leaves, and doesn't seem upset about it.**

** So I stay where I am, near the kids, when all of a sudden the girls mother walks over and starts arguing with me! She says something along the lines of: "That kid made my child cry! I can't believe how rude that is! Don't you know how to teach those kids any manners?" etc. etc. **

**So I shot her in the face-Okay, no, I didn't have a colt on me that day! BUT, I called her rude, and told her A. They're childen, relax, and B. This is a PARK FOR SMALL IMPRESSIONABLE KIDS, and she's yelling obscenities at the top of her lungs making a scene? **

**Both my kids and her kid ended up crying, and before it got any uglier, and I said some words that weren't meant for small kids ears that I'd regret later, I picked up my bags, grabbed the kids, and left the park, completely disgusted with that woman! **

**I mean, really? She was pointing at my five year-old charge and yelling at the both of us! He's FIVE for Gods sake! And as far as I saw, it was her kid who hadn't been taught properly to ask for permission before deciding to make something hers (spoiled much?) but I didn't point at her and scream, because she's a CHILD, and that would be STUPID, to stoop to such a low level (I'm seventeen and I know that -_-); something that that childs mother clearly knew nothing about. **

**Alright, sorry, I just needed to vent, I was so frustrated and hopefully now it's out of my system! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Part I. **

George Michaelson glared at the sixteen year-old. "Your father ruined my life." he seethed.

Tony didn't look up at the man. He was agitated. He'd learned to control his reaction to touch a lot better over the years, but when the older man had grabbed him so suddenly from behind, he'd panicked.

Now he was tied to a wooden chair, and blood flowed freely from the gash above his eyebrow, where George had struck him when he wouldn't be quiet.

Alie had invited Tony over today at four to do homework together. He was supposed to be there now, not here. Where ever here was. Tony glared at the floor. His head hurt and Alie was probably wondering where he was and he'd dropped his backpack on the ground when he and the man had been struggling.

All of his things were in their. His books, his study sheet, his cell phone, his keys with the little skull chain Abby had given him a couple of years ago. Everything.

"Hey! Listen to me!" the man grabbed Tonys' chin, forcing him to look at him.

"I don't like being touched. Stop!" Tony closed his eyes tight and struggled in the mans grip.

"That's a damn shame. Special Agent Gibbs took my son, and now I'm going to make sure he watches you die." George threatened, his scowl a permanent fixture on his face.

Tonys attention was caught when the man mentioned his dads name. "Gibbs..." he repeated, "Took your son." he shook his head. "Not Gibbs, he wouldn't do that. Let me go. I'm late. Taking people against their will is a felony."

George glared at the teen. "Were you born defective or something?" he asked, arching a brow.

"Were you? Normal people don't kidnap other people who were minding their own business. Now let me go. I'm late. You're making me very late. I'm not happy." Tony struggled in the seat. The ropes tying his hands behind his back were chafing his wrists. He was uncomfortable and it was hot in here and he was late!

George ignored the boy. Clearly something was wrong with him. But that wouldn't matter in a few hours. He started setting up the camera.

Alie had waited ten minutes before calling Gibbs. Tony was very punctual if something was on his schedule, and she'd marked today for him, so it was only reasonable she be worried, she wasn't over reacting, she told herself, as she dialed.

"Gibbs!"

Alie was used to his phone etiquette-it was something akin to Tonys. They hung up without saying goodbye, they answered the phone by stating their names quite loudly. She thought it was kind of cute. "Hi Gibbs, it's Alie." she had learned years ago not to call him Mister or Sir, as he worked for a living, "I was wondering if Tony was still home, he was supposed to be here at 4 and I know it's only 4:10 but he's usually right on time, and I know I'm total worry-wart but-"

Gibbs stopped her rambling, his voice trembling. "I thought he was going there directly after school, he never got home."

Alies' felt her heart stop. "Oh God."

**A.N. This will be a three part one-shot (if you can still call it that...) Any who, I realize this is ridiculously short, next one will be longer, promise. **


	6. Chapter 6

Part 2

Alie sat in the bullpen, her older brothers arm wrapped around her shoulder. Michael was her rock in times of despair, and these were definitely times of despair. It had been two hours since she'd called Tonys' dad, two hours since she'd breathed right.

She had been the last to see Tony. She'd told the team everything. No, he hadn't been acting strange, yes, he knew they had plans pending at four that afternoon. She'd kissed him very softly on the lips before getting into her brothers car and going home. She would have taken him to her place directly after school but Tony didn't like staying in his uniform past 3 o clock and wanted to go home and change, so they'd agreed to meet up at 4 instead. Alie had summarized this to Ziva, who'd questioned her as gently as she could.

Everyone was a wreck. They were too close to this, Director Sheppard had said, trying but not succeeding to keep the waver from her tone. She too, realized she was too close to this case. Jenny had met with the boy many times through out the years, and had grown quite attached. Tony was the most honest person she knew-perhaps because lying was something of a foreign concept to him.

However, the team had continued to retrace Tonys last steps, had brought the bus driver in for questioning, because the police wouldn't call it a missing persons' case until Tony had been missing for at least twenty four hours. Gibbs had gone ballistic. Twenty four hours? Did they realize what could occur in the span of twenty four hours?

His son was somewhere out there and...

Gibbs punched a wall in the mens bathroom.

This was unbearable.

"Boss! We found something!" McGee called, running back to the bullpen, sure that Gibbs was on his heels.

"What is it?" he demanded, looking at his computer screen.

"This was sent to your email just now; it's a live feed." Tim explained, clicking on the link.

_A tall, muscular, middle-aged man adjusted the camera at the other end and smiled menacingly. "Hello Agent Gibbs. Do you remember me? You ruined everything, you son of a bitch." he seethed. He slowly moved out of the way of the lens, and pointed the camera so that the team, Alie, and her brother, got a full view of Tony. _

_He was hunched over, tied to a rickety chair, his forehead smeared with dried blood. _

_"Say 'hi' to Daddy." the mans voice mocked, as he zoomed into his victim. _

_Tony didn't say a word, looked away from the camera with a frown. _

_The man set the camera on the tripod and went over to the sixteen year-old. "I said," He back handed Tony in the face, "'Say hi to Daddy'!" he yelled, anger clearly radiating off him in waves. _

_Tony spit out blood, but remained earily quite, scowl in place. _

_That earned him another smack, "Say hello to your father!" He screamed, frustrated. _

_Again, Tony said nothing, facing away from the camera. _

_George glared at the teen, smacked him a third time, "Listen to me!" he demanded. _

_Tony closed his eyes, his father wasn't here, what the heck was this guy talking about? Why was he tied up? Why was he touching his face? Tony hated to be touched abruptly, and without warning, and this man was definitely pushing his limit. "This is illegal. Let me go." _

_George gripped Tonys chin, turning his face toward the camera. "Your father is looking at you right now through that camera you worthless shit." he seethed, then addressed Gibbs. "You see your son? You're going to watch him die, just like I had to watch mine!" _

_Tony understood then, and looked directly at the camera, "Dad, I want to go home. Come get me, I don't like it here." He pulled at the rope some more, in distress. _

Gibbs wanted to kill that man on the screen putting his filthy hands on his son. He wanted to run over to Tony and untie his hands and hug him tight, despite the complaints that would surely arise, and know that his son was safe in his arms.

_George glared at the camera. "You ruined my life when you took my son from me, Special Agent Gibbs. You don't know what it's like to have to watch your child die right in front of you and you can't do a damn thing to stop it." he shook his head, "I bet you've ruined so many lives you can't even remember who I am." The man looked absolutely disgusted. "You sicken me, and now your son is going to pay for what you did ten years ago!" _

Abby tried not to outright cry, urging McGee to hurry as he tracked down where the signal for the live feed was coming from, his fingers agile as they moved across the keyboard, determined to find Tony.

_"My son didn't deserve to die, Agent Gibbs." George continued. He took a chunk of Tonys hair and pulled, making him look up at the camera again. "Say goodbye to your son, Agent Gibbs." he grinned maniacally, took a knife from behind his back, and held it up to the camera. _

"Oh God." Kate uttered, her heart beating a mile a minute. No, oh God no, please no. Next to her, Ziva was shaking with dread.

"I found the location!" McGee announced, his voice jittery, Abby jumping up in excitement.

_"Say good bye to Daddy!" George had a crazy look in his eye, as he swung the knife in an upward motion and thrust it into Tony, eliciting a shocked, strangled gasp. _

Alie cried out, "No!"


End file.
